Critical Political Realignment

in a World of

Shrinking Natural Resources

Professor Vikram Soni (National Physical Laboratory)

NATURAL HERITAGE FIRST

World SituationAt the planetary level, we have a huge crisis concerning the air, water and lands - their composition and species (1/3 of all species already extinct),. The crises have arisen from excessive production and waste disposal

The crisis is in the form of:

• Climate Change

• Reduction in forest cover and soil degradation

• Vanishing fresh water reserves

This is making all the responsible world governments sit up and do something, notably, with the exception of U.S.

So it is clear the ideology and scheme of living that we have been pursuing is flawed and inadequate.This is an immediate political question.

INDIASome concerns;

• Glaciers melting

• Water storage capacity going down as forests shrink

• Population up by 4 times since independence

And we are developing at a huge pace to catch up with U.S , where energy consumption is over 20 times ours.

• U.S. area is 3 times India’s, U.S. population is quarter of India’s. So amount of natural resources available with U.S is 12 times per

capita compared to India.

• We are becoming conspicuous consumers So we are going to finish these resources much more than12 times faster than U.S. - DANGER

Our City - DelhiIn developing countries cities are urbanizing at an unsustainable pace, way beyond their carrying capacity., in terms of everything:

• Natural resources, water, waste disposal, traffic, shrinking open spaces etc.

• WATER

• For these mega cities in the developing world it is no longer a question of importing an essential resource like water, the water is just not there

• New York, gets its water from the Catskills forest, which is 150 kilometres away. Delhi does not have such an option

 

Water Resource - Delhi• The sustainable carrying capacity of Delhi is about 8 million - less than half

its present population! (“Water and Carrying Capacity of a City; Delhi, published in Economic and Political Weekly, Nov. 8 2003,)

• The study finds that a third of the city’s water is imported from the Ganga and the Beas and further import of water from these heavily agricultured river basins will lead to intense conflict.

• It also found that the secondary (non potable) recycling of water is not a realistic option, as the cost per person will be close to half the annual per capita income

• This makes it urgently necessary to examine the issue in depth- especially the preservation of local water resource.

Valuing

Delhi’s Invaluable Local Urban Resources

For Immediate Preservation

RidgeTotal area ~150 sq. kms (only 77 sq.kms notified, need to

notify the restURGENT)Recharge Potential- @ 40% (25 cm) of rainfall (60 cm

per year) for 80 Sq kms of ridge, it comes to 20 MCM (20 billion liters)

Delhi’s Ridge provides pure natural mineral water. At Re.2 per litre (1/15th the cost of regular mineral water bottles!) It is worth Rs. 4000 crores or ~ $1 billion a year.

80%

Delhi Yamuna Flood Plains

Area - 97 sq.kms on mapSoil Composition - Sand and siltWater holding capacity - 40% of its volume (see

experiment)Depth of sand and silt layer - 30-40 metres approximatelySpecific Yield - 20% of gross volume of aquiferTotal water yield potential - 0.6 billion cubic metres

(almost 3/4 annual water needs of Delhi)Economic Value – over Rs. 6,000 crores per year of

permanent annual non invasive use (estimated at cheapest tanker value of water

i.e Rs 1,000 for 10,000 liters or recycling cost)

Organic WaterOrganic Water

• Aquifer Pollution

• River Pollution : Industrial, city sewage, agricultural wash

Deep Underground Aquifers

Emergency Reserves

Proposal: for Integral Heritage 1. Like all the built heritage we must identify all the natural heritage sites and put them on a

conservation list.

2. The larger picture: Creating an independent body like an Environmental Protection Commission with unbiased and knowledgeable citizens as members. It should decide on all big projects and protect the health and environmental right of the citizens and the city.

A Healthy precedent: The Environmental Impact Assessment Authority carried out an objective EIA in 1996. It conducted a transparent and impartial public hearing on a project that would have built 13 hotels on the ridge. At the hearing it was effectively established that the hotels under question would have disastrous environmental consequences if built.

3. Work with all resident welfare associations to create a local cell and archive on integral heritage to build awareness, a knowledge base and a protection mechanism for all local, natural and built heritage.

P.S- At present we, in Delhi are reeling under the blatant violation of all land laws for the last three decades.

Protecting the ridge, the river and our historical legacy. Along with the basic quality of life.